


Stars in her Eyes

by RoSholl



Series: Sweetest Devotion [2]
Category: Women's Soccer RPF
Genre: F/F, mallory press-heath
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-03-19
Updated: 2020-03-19
Packaged: 2021-03-01 01:07:53
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,537
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/23216764
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/RoSholl/pseuds/RoSholl
Summary: Tobin and Christen Press-Heath take to the stage at an event for women in sports, leaving Kelley to baby sit their nearly three year old, Mallory Press-Heath, in the crowd. It goes about as well as you'd expect!
Relationships: Tobin Heath/Christen Press
Series: Sweetest Devotion [2]
Series URL: https://archiveofourown.org/series/1669210
Comments: 12
Kudos: 200





	Stars in her Eyes

**Author's Note:**

> I decided to write another of these because the response to the last one was SO kind. To everyone that left a comment, thank you SO much!

“You know them, you love them, please welcome to the stage Christen and Tobin Press-Heath!”

The crowd erupted in applause and cheers as the two women walked onto the stage, smiling and waving as they made their way to their seats. They were the key note guests for an ESPN annual event on women in sports.

The crowd was full of journalists, college students, inspired young kids and their parents, fellow athletes. Maybe a few years ago they would have been hesitant to take the stage at an event like this, when they were still players themselves. But no longer being in the professional or national game took the pressure off them. They could be themselves. And these days, their main priority was something else.

Christen couldn’t resist the huge smile that broke out on her face when she sat in her seat and immediately found their daughter in the crowd. Their nearly three year old was sitting on Aunty Kelley’s lap – well, not really sitting. As soon as she’d seen them walk onto the stage she was jumping in Kelley’s arms, practically standing on top of her Aunt to see her mothers.

“Hey, you two.” Becky greeted them as the applause finally died down. They both sighed in comfort – it was much easier to talk to Becky, who was practically family, than another ESPN reporter. ESPN clearly knew they’d get a much better event if they didn’t put a reporter on stage asking them the questions. Becky was the President of the newly joined USWNT and NWSL Players Association and was bossing the place like she always had done.

“Hey, Becky. It’s good to see you!” Tobin replied, smiling at her friend.

“Thanks for having us.”

Becky beamed at Christen. “Thanks for being here! I’d say the crowd is pretty happy to have you, no?”

  
At that, the crowd roared into cheers again. Christen took this opportunity to lean over to Tobin and whisper, “Look at Mal.” Both of their heads turned to find their daughter again, Tobin almost bursting out laughing at how absolutely ecstatic Mal looked. Their baby girl had no idea what was going on, of course, but she knew her Mommies, she knew she could see them, and she knew this whole crowd was excited to see them too.

Kelley had to practically wrap both her arms around the girl’s stomach to make sure she didn’t fling herself off her lap and run over to them. She met Christen and Tobin’s eyes and laughed, all of them shaking their heads at the kid.

“Aunny Kelley it’s Mommies!”

“I know honey, I can see your Mommies up there too!” Kelley whispered back with a smile. “They’re going to talk to Aunty Becky now, so we have to be quiet, okay?” She gently shushed the girl so she wouldn’t babble loudly as they talked with Becky.

Kelley was also acutely aware that everyone sitting around them was overjoyed to be able to witness the cuteness that was baby Mal up close and personal. She had told her friends that if she sat with Mal in the audience everyone would take photos of her or film her, but they figured since the event as a whole was being filmed, that would have happened anyway.

Plus, it was good to expose Mal to the fact that other people knew her mothers existed and were excited about that, as well, not just the little girl.

Though Mal was _certainly_ going to make her devotion for them known.

“Hi Mommies!” Mal yelled out, overcome with excitement, just as Becky was about to start speaking again, to which the entire crowd laughed, awed and cheered. Kelley laughed out loud as well, shaking her head and knowing there was realistically nothing she could have done to stop that. There was no force on Earth that could stop Mal from calling out to her mothers if she saw them, she just loved them so much.

Tobin and Christen sported massive grins on their faces when Mal called out to them, laughing in delight at how adorable she was. Becky had much the same reaction, shaking her head fondly at Mal’s cute behavior.

“Hi, baby.” Tobin replied, the audience cooing at the name for Mal.

“Mal and Mommies?” Mal yelled out again, despite Kelley trying to keep her quiet and amusing the entire room.

Christen had her hand covering her mouth, laughing under it. This was not the intended start to their Q&A with Becky but really, they should have known with their daughter. “Not right now, baby girl. We’re talking to Aunty Becky and when we finish we’ll be with you. Can you stay with Aunty Kelley for us?”

“I stay with Aunny Kelley!” Mal yelled back, not caring or comprehending in the slightest that this was decidedly _not_ the forum to have a conversation with her Mothers. Fair to say that the entire room was absolutely loving it, though. “Love Mommies!”

Tobin threw her head back, unable to keep her laughter in, and her grin was so wide it almost hurt her cheeks. “We love you, baby.”

“Kelley, do you want to at least try to keep a hold of things down there? You’re making us look bad.” Christen teased to her former teammate, laughing as Kelley just replied with her hands in the air in a ‘what can you do, this kid marches to her own beat.’

“Sorry about that, Becky.” Tobin smiled at the sight of Becky laughing with adoration in her eyes at Mal.

“Please, don’t apologize. I’m not sure any of my questions tonight are ever going to top that. She’s loves you both way too much to keep it to herself.”

“Yeah,” Christen said, beaming through her words. “She’s the greatest thing in our lives.”

\---

“And Tobin, you’re obviously still well embedded in the sporting world, heading up the Portland Thorns Academy for its future stars.”

Almost the whole crowd broke out into cheers, this being Portland after all, and Tobin pumped her fist with a grin. “That’s right. Those girls are ballers, let me tell you. They’ve got so much talent and they’re so inspiring…”

Christen listened with fondness as her wife talked about the Academy with Becky, knowing how dedicated and passionate Tobin was about her job. She felt so relaxed and comfortable on stage, this being one of her favorite events they’d ever done.

As Tobin and Becky conversed, Christen couldn’t help but drift her eyes down to where her daughter sat on Kelley’s lap. A soft smile took over her face as she watched them playing a silent game, Kelley’s hair falling over Mal’s face and Mal giggling quietly as she brushed it away, only to tap Kelley to go again and again.

Then, a question from Becky got Christen’s attention.

  
“Any chance of signing Mal up for the Academy?”

“Oh, _don’t_ encourage her.” Christen cut in with a grin before Tobin could answer, making the crowd and her wife laugh. “Tobin and Mal already rampage around the house kicking balls every which way and nearly breaking how many photo frames and lamps in the process?”

“Only one or two!...Or ten.” Tobin says with a sheepish grin, laughing at the way Christen playfully rolled her eyes. “Mal’s going to be a forward.”

The stupid proud grin sitting on Tobin’s face made Christen melt, and if she was honest, she felt the exact same. Mal was _obsessed_ with soccer, much like her mothers, and she couldn’t wait to be old enough to get properly into the fold. Christen was determined to support her daughter’s dreams, whatever they may be, but she couldn’t help but get an excited flutter in her stomach at the thought of going to watch her daughter’s games someday.

Becky and Tobin resumed their talk about the Thorns Academy and Christen’s eyes drifted back to Mal. Mal was paying attention again, evidently having heard her name and being excited at whatever she thought was going on.

Their eyes met and Christen smiled at her daughter, waving her fingers at her.

In the crowd, Kelley about lost it at Mal’s response to Christen’s little wave. The girl could barely contain her excitement, burying herself back into Kelley with a mad blush all over her face and a shy and excited smile.

It was hilarious to Kelley, because Mal was losing it by getting waved at by her _own mom_ , but this kid was the funniest kid she’d ever met. It was clear that Mal absolutely idolized both of her mothers, and after seeing how much the crowd was cheering for each of them today, she had gotten so excited that they were still smiling and waving to her.

  
Kelley met Christen’s eyes and they both almost burst out laughing. Mal was truly a never ending source of entertainment.

“Mama waved me.” Mal whispered to Kelley, eyes still shining with stars in them.

“She did wave at you. Because she loves you, Mal Pal.” Kelley whispered back, kissing Mal’s soft cheeks.

“I love Mama! Love Mommy. And love Aunny Kelley.”

“Oh, honey, I love you too.” Kelley happily accepted the hug from the little girl who burrowed happily into her, tears almost springing to her eyes at how sweet she was. She held Mal contently on her lap for the next while, laughing to herself every time she heard her whisper out “Hi Mommies” to herself.

The Q&A was heading towards the end, them now taking questions from the crowd. There were a lot of journalists asking about their current work, what their thoughts were on the current national team, a lot of fans asking about what’s coming next for them, what is it like living retired from soccer, and of course, there were questions referring to Mal, a fan favorite if not before today, then definitely after it.

“How do you balance working full time and being Mothers?”

“Oh, that’s easy.” Tobin started to answer with a cheeky tone of voice. “We hired a live-in nanny, her name is Kelley O’Hara, you probably haven’t heard of her.” The crowd roared with laughter at that answer, especially as Kelley stood up holding Mal and took a dramatic bow. “Yeah, she needed another job when she realized that Stanford would never be able to beat UNC in another College Cup final.”

Sounds of hilarity and anticipation raced across the room as Tobin said that, both at the reaction of Christen on stage and Kelley from the floor.

“Alright, Kelley, get up here. I can’t stand for this Stanford slander alone.”

The crowd cheered as Christen said that, even more when Kelley started walking up to the stage, Mal in her arms. She let the girl down as soon as they’d gotten up the stairs, Mal’s little legs taking off as fast as they could go right into her Mothers’ arms.

“Hi, Mommies!” Mal gushed, laughing in delight as they hugged her and kissed her face. “I sit here!”

“That’s right, baby, you can sit with us.” Tobin sat Mal in between her and Christen, Kelley sitting on the other side of Christen closest to Becky.

“Now what’s this I hear about Stanford losing? Because last I heard, that College Cup is sitting pretty nicely on the Cardinal shelf.” Kelley challenged Tobin, an eyebrow raised with a grin.

Becky laughed at her former teammates ribbing each other – some things truly never changed. “Even though I congratulated you at the time, Kelley, I will say again, it was a magnificent showing from Stanford. You’re head of recruitment and assistant coach for the women’s team there, how is that going for you?”

“Oh, it’s a dream.” Kelley spent a few minutes conversing with Becky, while Mal happily enjoyed being back with her Mommies in close proximity. She moved around on the couch, climbing into Christen’s lap and then Tobin’s, sitting there tapping her Mommy’s hands contently.

“So I assume you’re passing through Portland on a scouting trip?”

Kelley nodded at Becky. “There’s some great talent in Portland high schools.”

“Well, I guess we’ll just have to wait and see who has bragging rights at the next College Cup final.” Becky said, to cheers from the crowd.

“Tobin knows, deep in her heart, Stanford is the only answer.” Christen teased, laughing along with everyone and laughing more at Mal, who didn’t know why she was laughing but was happy to go along with it anyway.

“But to properly answer your question from before, and I’m so sorry for the tangent that took,” Tobin turned back out into the audience, “I think the thing we’ve learnt throughout the process of being working mothers is that there’s no one right way to do things. Every situation is different and as helpful as it is to hear about what others do, ultimately you just have to do what works best for your family.”

Christen nodded, agreeing. “You can try to prepare all you want and control the way things turn out but at the end of the day the most important thing for us is keeping our sense of self and what we want to put into the world, and making sure our daughter has the best life she can. We are so fortunate to have great family and friends around,” Christen bumped Kelley’s shoulder with a smile, “And we are quick to lean on their support when we need it.”

“And with a face like that who wouldn’t make it work, huh?” Kelley cooed as she leaned over to lightly tickle Mal’s side, making the girl giggle in Tobin’s lap.

“Do you want to say hi to everyone, baby?” Tobin asked Mal, smiling when she looked up at her. Mal took a look out at the crowd, maybe for the first time realizing just how big it was, and immediately turned back in to Tobin, shy and cuddly.

“That’s a first.” Christen laughed, shaking her head fondly. “Don’t let that fool you. This kid is _wild_.”

“Well, it’s good timing anyway, because I think we’re at the end of our session.” Becky started saying her closing remarks, mostly thanking the guests and the crowd for being so great. As she was almost finished she made eye contact with Mal and the nearly three year old grinned at her. She held out her hand, knowing Mal always liked cuddles from her aunties, and sure enough the kid jumped off Tobin’s lap, running over to her.

Becky stopped her final remarks short as she caught Mal who practically flew into her lap, making everyone laugh. “Do you want to help me say goodbye to everyone?”

“Bye e’reyone!” Mal said, laughing at everyone else laughing.

“Can you say get home safe?” Becky asked the girl on her lap.

“Home safe!”

“Can you say thanks for coming?”

“Tanks coming!”

“Can you say go UNC?” Tobin asked, a cheeky glint in her eyes.

“Sanfod!” Mal excitedly exclaimed back, making the entire crowd lose it as Christen and Kelley jumped up, cheering and laughing.

“Yes! That’s my baby girl.” Christen exclaimed with glee as Tobin just groaned in laughter. Clearly she had a lot of work to do with Mal, yet.

**Author's Note:**

> Again it is just straight up fluff but I hope you enjoyed! If you have any other ideas you want to see from this family let me know! Thank you for reading!


End file.
